Royal Holloway, University of London, MSc, Economics

Core course units:

Pre-sessional mathematics refresher course 
All students attend the compulsory pre-sessional quantitative methods refresher course, which runs for 2 weeks in September, before the start of lectures. There are no additional fees for this course.

Microeconomic Theory - Games
This is a graduate level introduction to microeconomic theory. You will cover decision and game theory and in particular the following topics: decision under risk, decision theoretic puzzles, normal form games, Nash equilibrium, incomplete information, political competition, matching, auctions, and mechanism design. 

Macroeconomics 
You will be provided with an introduction to modern intertemporal macroeconomics focusing on the determinants of Economic Growth; for instance, overlapping generation models and the Ramsey growth model. You will also develop and apply tools for dynamic economic analysis that are useful in all fields of economics. This course gives you a solid core in modern macroeconomics.

Econometrics 
This course will give an overview of the principle techniques of empirical investigation used in economics. The emphasis will be on the practical application of these techniques. The course will cover the principle techniques used in multivariate regression analysis, you will be introduced to the principles and assumptions underlying ordinary least squares, the consequences of any departure from these assumptions, how to test for this and what to do about it.

Microeconomic Theory - Markets
This course is studied in the spring term and is a graduate level introduction to: mathematical programming, the microeconomic theory of firm and consumer behaviour, partial and general equilibrium analysis, monopoly and oligopoly and welfare economics. Students will gain both an abstract understanding of microeconomic theory and a level of proficiency that allows them to use microeconomic models in other areas of economics.

Research Methods and Dissertation
You will be equipped with the necessary skills required for research. While conducting research sounds like an easy task, it is paved with various difficulties. This course aims to help you avoid these traps so that you can conduct an efficient piece of research at the end of your degree.

The dissertation gives you the opportunity to analyse an economics issue in depth. You will be assigned a dissertation supervisor and by the end of March, submit a preliminary dissertation report that contains a clear statement of the problem under consideration, the structure of the project and the research methods that are going to be applied. The dissertation is then written over the summer.